Navy Admits Blame for Whale Deaths

By Craig Cox, Utne

| November / December 2002

Nearly three years after a group of rare beaked whales were beached and died in the Bahamas during Navy tests of a new sonar system, the Pentagon has admitted that it was at fault. As Mark Palmer reports in Earth Island Journal (Summer 2002), a Navy investigation revealed that the beached whales’ inner-ear tissue damage was the result of "the unusual extended use of Navy mid-range tactical sonars." Meanwhile, the Navy has requested permission to use a more powerful sonar and claims that it will have no adverse effects on marine life.